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Final Score: Vancouver 5 - Chicago 1

Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Roberto Luongo made 36 saves and Vancouver scored the first five goals of the game en route to a 5-1 win over Chicago in Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal series.

Christian Ehrhoff and Mason Raymond each had a goal and an assist while Henrik Sedin, Michael Grabner and Kyle Wellwood each added a goal for the Canucks, who came back from a 2-1 series deficit to Los Angeles to win their quarterfinal set in six games.

"I was able to make a few saves early and it got me going," said Luongo. "That was nice to get in the action right away since we hadn't played since Sunday. Now we've got to keep it going."

Patrick Kane scored the lone goal while Antti Niemi made 20 saves in the loss for the Blackhawks, who dealt the Predators a six-game setback in the quarterfinals. Niemi was pulled after the second period and replaced by Cristobal Huet, who stopped all three shots he faced.

"Sometimes when you have a long layoff it hurts," said Kane. "But they had the same thing, though, so there's no excuse for it. Maybe we came in thinking it was going to be an easy series which obviously it's not."

Game 2 will be in Chicago on Monday.

Vancouver grabbed the lead at the 13:51 mark of the first as Raymond sent a pass from the right boards to the top of the right circle where Erhoff wristed it home.

Moments after the goal, Kane was loose on a breakaway, but Luongo came up with the stop to keep Chicago off the board.

In the waning moments of the first, the Canucks took a 2-0 lead as Raymond sent a quick shot from the right boards that Niemi stopped, but he left a big rebound in the slot and Raymond blasted it home with 10.5 ticks on the clock.

Vancouver came out on fire to start the second period and took a 3-0 lead as a flurry around the net saw Sedin receive a pass from his brother Daniel and wrist it home just 32 seconds in.

Skating on the power play, the Canucks took a 4-0 advantage as Erhoff's blast from the point was stopped and Steve Bernier tried to stuff home the rebound, which sat near the goalline before Wellwood swiped it home with 9:01 to play in the second.

It was a 5-0 game with 3:39 to play in the middle stanza as Rick Rypien skated down the right side and slid the puck around the stick of a diving defender to the front where Grabner tapped it home.

The Blackhawks finally got on the board at the 2:07 mark of the third on the power play when Kane stuffed the puck home from the right side.